I'm not on a budget, really - I try not to get too crazy, because what if I don't like making quilts five years from now. But, I confess that I am fanatical about tools and when I walk into a quilt shop, my eyes glaze over and I kind of go into a trance.
We're going to be retired in a few years and on a fixed income, so I try to build my stash "smart" - not many novelties, mostly classic, traditional prints in colors that aren't real trendy. Lots of blenders and neutrals for applique, lots of collections.
I do try to buy on sale and economize to some extent - I shop connectingthreads and fabric.com where the shipping is free, and I shop whittlesfabrics and a couple of my favorite eBay sellers - Quilt Unique and franks11 - where the prices are always so low that the small amount for shipping isn't a big deal.